Dried Chiltepin Peppers (Tepin Peppers)

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Description

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Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum is a variety of Capsicum annuum that is native to southern North America and northern South America. Common names include chiltepin, chiltepe, and chile tepin, as well as turkey, bird’s eye, or simply bird peppers, due to their consumption and spread by wild birds. 

 

Chiltepin pepper are a perennial shrub that usually grows to a height of around 1 m (3.3 ft), but sometimes reaches 3 m (9.8 ft) and in areas without hard frost in winter, plants can live 35-50 years. Thin fleshed, has a dry and dusty flavor and a searing transient heat. People consider Chiltepin chilli to be hotter than Habanero! It is used to make the hottest salsas, or to add flavor to soups, stews, and vinegars.

 

The tiny chili peppers of C. a. var. glabriusculum are red to orange-red, usually slightly ellipsoidal, and about 0.8 cm (0.31 in) in diameter. Some strains of chitepin peppers are much closer to perfectly round when fresh. If a chiltepin pepper is dried, it appears quite round even if it was slightly ellipsoidal when fresh. Chiltepin peppers are extremely hot, measuring between 100,000 to 150,000 Scoville units. For comparison, the Poblano peppers range from 1,000-2,500 Scoville units; and Jalapeños range from 3,500 to 8.000.  

 

Chiltepins have long been used by native people to spice food and as a food preservative. Chiltepins were also used medicinally. The capsaicin is an antibacterial agent. The Pima Bajo people used chiltepins to relieve stomach disorders. The Mayo Indians mixed chiltepín leaves with alcohol to make a liniment for rheumatism.